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20 Jul 2016

Diagnosing Rabbit Dental Disease

Posted By : Guest

Filed Under : Rabbits | Pet Care

Rabbits are continuing to be seen in increasing numbers in veterinary clinics with dental disease. The main staple of a rabbit's diet should be grass and timothy hay. Your rabbit will consume a lot of hay daily; it’s vital for digestive health. When rabbits become adults, they will be able to eat some alfalfa hay (lucerne) on occasion, but young bunnies need to stick with timothy hay.

Once the rabbit has snipped off that tasty dandelion, he uses his tongue to thrust it back to his cheek teeth. These are the grinding teeth that break the harsh fiber down into short sections that can be swallowed. Obviously this is hard work for the teeth, and constant chewing on fibrous grass or hay wears the teeth down. But happily, the teeth love a challenge and just grow a bit faster. However, the opposite is not true. If the rabbit eats a low-fiber diet and wears the crowns down less quickly, those stubborn old teeth just keep on growing.

Signs of Overgrown Teeth

Overgrown teeth cause problems. For one thing, teeth grow in both directions — up into the mouth and down into the jawbone — like a tree putting down roots. A bizarre quirk of biomechanics means that if the crown isn’t worn down, then the roots dig deeper. This leads to pain, discomfort when chewing and tooth root abscesses. So, what other signs might your rabbit show?

Anorexia

Weight loss

Drooling saliva from the mouth

Long curling incisor teeth curling into the mouth and deviating laterally

Matted fur through lack of grooming: If the mouth is too sore to groom, the coat soon begins to suffer.

Abnormal swellings of the face

A creamy eye discharge: Those elongating tooth roots in the skull press on the tear ducts and prevent tear draining. This then becomes infected and leads to a creamy-white eye discharge.

Grinding of teeth

Ears back and showing signs of stress

Accumulation of faeces (sticky Caecotrophs) under the tail

Fly strike

Muesli Diets & Too Much Pelleted Food Is a Problem

The ideal food for rabbits is grass. It’s what their ancestors ate, and it’s what they’re designed to eat.

Did you know a rabbit needs to chew for 20 hours a day to thrive on grass? That’s a lot of tooth wear and tear.

A rabbit on muesli food can eat a day’s worth of nutrition in just 20 minutes (which leaves those teeth growing).

How long a rabbit spends eating is what makes the difference between a healthy mouth and a toothache. Although it’s true that there are some genetic causes of overgrown teeth, the biggest culprit is feeding muesli food and too much pelleted food. As with so many things, prevention is better than cure. Grass is key, but if you don’t have access, then feed your rabbit good quality timothy hay.

Teeth Trimming

Do you think your rabbit has tooth problems? Visit a veterinarian comfortable with treating rabbits. If the incisors are overgrown, there are 2 schools of thought about how to trim the teeth back:

Scissor clippers: Trimming back the incisors with sharp clippers is common, but there’s a growing argument against it. This is because overgrown teeth are often brittle, which means the tooth may shatter when clipped.
Burring: This involves a high-speed dental burr, which whizzes away the enamel to keep a clean cutting line. A skilled clinician can do this with the rabbit conscious, and it’s a lot less likely to cause complications.

This video shows how to check your rabbit’s cheek teeth and incisors at home: